What Is Cooperative Agreement
A cooperation agreement can be a highly specialized research award in which federal employees are among the relatively few experts in this field. In this case, the award can be defined as a “cooperation agreement” because federal staff and the non-federal recipient will conduct the research together in one way or another. Both cooperation agreements and grants “transfer anything of value from the federal contracting authority or transmitting agency to the non-federal body in order to fulfill a public purpose.” The NIJ may choose to provide discretionary grants in the form of grants or cooperation agreements. Although many of you are familiar with grants, you may not be as familiar with cooperation agreements. Cooperation agreements are just another way to support high-quality crime and justice research. The cooperation agreements allow us to fully exploit the expertise of NIJ scientists and support innovative research. The following table shows some of the key differences and similarities between these two financing options. In addition to the information on the FSA`s website about their programs, these are practical links to information about cooperation agreements: although the federal agency remains involved in implementation, the task should never be postponed to be carried out for the agency. The FGCAA explicitly prohibits federal agencies from using cooperative agreements to acquire goods or services for the direct benefit or use of the federal government.
This distinction distinguishes cooperation agreements from “public procurement” or “acquisitions” that are linked to the FAR. This distinction also helps to limit the protest measures available to bidders disappointed for cooperation agreement opportunities. Main conclusions 1. Grants and cooperation agreements are very similar. 2. The differences lie in the details of implementation (i.e. cooperation agreements are accompanied by “significant participation” by the Federal Agency). 3. There are also legal implications of these various agreements, so read the agreements carefully and discuss them with lawyers. FSA cooperation agreements aim to support or stimulate a public objective with substantial participation from the FSA. (1) A research and development cooperation agreement within the meaning of 15 U.S.C. 3710a; or A cooperation agreement is a type of project in which joint action or cooperation between the Federal Agency for Public Procurement and the beneficiary during the implementation of the project is deemed necessary or desirable to ensure the successful implementation of the project.
Cooperation agreements differ from traditional public procurement and are therefore not subject to the Federal Ordinance on Acquisitions (FAR). As with other transaction authorities, this approach gives agencies more freedom to shape the terms of an agreement based on new or innovative efforts. For example, the FDA uses this freedom to advance food safety with states by funding the implementation of food safety rules. As the federal contracting landscape becomes increasingly complex, cooperation agreements give some entrepreneurs the opportunity to focus on a streamlined federal funding mechanism. A cooperation agreement reflects a relationship between the U.S. government and a recipient and is used when the government`s purpose is to assist the intermediary in providing goods or services to the authorized recipient. The FSA`s authority to enter into cooperation agreements includes the following elements: [Note 1] Substantial participation means that after providing project support, scientific or program staff direct, coordinate or participate in project activities. In general, it is said that when awarding cooperation agreements, the responsibility for the day-to-day implementation of the funded project lies with the beneficiary in the implementation of the funded and approved proposal and budget, as well as the award conditions. Responsibility for monitoring and transmitting the project, if necessary, lies with the NIJ. That being said, substantial participation is a relative rather than an absolute concept.
How the NIJ will be involved in a collaborative project depends on the circumstances. Examples include the NIJ`s review and approval of the winners` implementation, monitoring and evaluation plans; Review and approval of the required NIJ at the end of any work phase before moving on to the next phases; Review and approval by the NIJ of subcontracts or grants; and joint action and cooperation or participation between the NIJ and the laureate in the implementation of certain technical activities related to the implementation of the funded project. .